Times pushed ahead to avoid being scooped on Mamdani Columbia story  —  The Scoop  —  The afternoon before a long holiday weekend isn't always the best time to drop a major scoop.  But the New York Times did not want to wait to publish its story about Zohran Mamdani's application …

Trump gutted the weather service.  Then Texas flooded.  —  🗣️ Paid subscribers make Public Notice possible.  If you appreciate our fiercely independent coverage of American politics, please support us.  👇  —  Over the weekend, torrential rains struck central Texas …

Exclusive: DOJ, FBI conclude Epstein had no “client list,” committed suicide … - The administration is releasing a video — in both raw and “enhanced” versions — that it says indicates no one entered the area of the Manhattan prison where Epstein was held the night he died in 2019.

U.S. measles cases reach 33-year record high as outbreaks spread  —  Johns Hopkins University data reflects the public health reversal in defeating the vaccine-preventable disease since measles was officially eliminated from the U.S. in 2000.  —  Summary564

Trump's ominous ICE security state  —  The nation of immigrants' shift to mass deportation is among the most shocking turns in US history  —  They say the cruelty is the point.  —  Inspecting cages that would spark outrage were zoos to put apes in them, Donald Trump last week expressed delight with Florida's new deportee camp.

Man with rifle and tactical gear killed after exchange of fire with Border Patrol in Texas  —  A man with a rifle and tactical gear opened fire on law enforcement officers Monday morning at a Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, before being shot and killed during an exchange of fire …

Capitol agenda: GOP turns toward DOGE cuts and a shutdown cliff  —  Republicans finally got their “big, beautiful bill” across the finish line.  Now they're turning to their next urgent tasks: codifying billions in spending cuts and avoiding a government shutdown.

Trump administration teases more trade deals, but shifting tariff deadlines raise more questions … Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday said the Trump administration will make “several” trade-related announcements in the next 48 hours, signaling imminent progress even as U.S. tariff deadlines appear to be shifting.

Democrats told to “get shot” for the anti-Trump resistance  —  At town halls in their districts and in one-on-one meetings with constituents and activists, Democratic members of Congress are facing a growing thrum of demands to break the rules, fight dirty — and not be afraid to get hurt.

From Food Aid to Dog Chow?  How Trump's Cuts Hurt Kansas Farmers. … Wheat grows so prodigiously here on the Kansas high plains that in 1953 the surplus birthed one of the Cold War's big ideas: Food for Peace, a federal government program that delivered the excess bounty to a hungry postwar world.

Real Men Burn Stuff  —  The manosphere and the war on renewable energy  —  “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.”  That famous 2011 quip from the venture capitalist Peter Thiel still resonates, even though Thiel himself has become a deeply malignant force in American politics.

Playbook: Why Biden wanted the CNN debate  —  With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco  —  Good Monday morning.  This is Jack Blanchard.  —  FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Biden bombshell: Here's one for the history books.  This morning, Playbook readers can read the actual six-page memo …

Transcript: Trump's Use of Secret Police Takes “Shocking” Darker Turn  —  The following is a lightly edited transcript of the July 7 episode of the Daily Blast podcast.  Listen to it here.  —  Editor's note: Later in this discussion guest Simon Rosenberg makes a critical point that we want to highlight …

165. TikTok and the Dispensing Power  —  Attorney General Bondi's TikTok-related letters rest on a view of presidential power that has no support in even the most capacious understandings of the “unitary executive” theory.  —  Welcome back to “One First,” a weekly newsletter that aims …

Michigan utility aided sabotage of Covid lockdown policies, documents reveal  —  DTE Energy had denied involvement in dark money non-profits, but court documents show a $100,000 donation  —  Newly released court documents show power utility DTE Energy knowingly contributed $100,000 …

Jesse Jackson Jr. explores a House comeback bid  —  Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is quietly exploring a comeback in Illinois' 2nd Congressional District after more than a decade out of office — including a two-year prison term.  Jackson — the son of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr …

The Trump Administration Wants to Close Down Key Weather Labs Across the Country  —  The National Severe Storms Laboratory sits on a campus of radar equipment and office buildings at the University of Oklahoma, off a state highway in Norman.  It's responsible for radar breakthroughs …

Tesla shares drop 7% in premarket trading after Elon Musk says he is launching a political party … Tesla shares fell in premarket trade on Monday after CEO Elon Musk announced plans to form a new political party.  —  The stock was down 7.13% by 4:27 a.m. E.T.

Don Davis eyes open North Carolina Senate seat  —  Democratic Rep. Don Davis is exploring a run for the North Carolina Senate seat being vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis, according to a spokesperson.  Davis is “looking at all options and not ruling anything out,” said the spokesperson, Hannah Spengler.

The Frightening Dream House of Zoran Mamdani … After his first-place win in the New York City mayoral primaries, Zoran Mamdani is furiously denying everything that he once glibly thought was cutting-edge and cool.  —  So, like a good postmodern relativist, Mamdani now claims he didn't really mean …

Potential 2028 GOP contenders already making moves … Now several ambitious Republicans are signaling they see an opening to offer themselves to primary voters as the future of the party.  — “Everyone knows Trump has one term left, and I would say its a wide-open opportunity,” …

Trump's $5 million ‘gold card’ visa might never happen  —  The president and his aides have exaggerated the likelihood that such a program can be legally implemented and have made no effort to introduce legislation that would be needed.  —  Summary0  —  Over the past four months …